DVD Review: KOALA KID

Home » DVD Review: KOALA KID

May 08, 2013 Posted by Brett Nolan in DVD/Blu-ray, Reviews | Comments

Sometimes the thing that makes you different, makes you great…

The Koala Kid is this is an animated tale of an unusual looking koala named Johnny, who is teased for his differences and tries to find a place where he fits in and can be happy. Along his journey of discovery he learns what it means to be a true hero and that you shouldn’t pretend to be something that you’re not.

The film’s talented voice cast includes Rob Schneider, Yvonne Strahovski, Alan Cumming, Tim Curry, Norm MacDonald, Bret McKenzie, Nolan North, Chris Edgerly, Eric Lopez, Phil Proctor, Jenni Pulos and Neil Ross.

Now for a more detailed synopsis (feel free to skip this if you don’t want any spoilers):

Spoiler Inside	Select Show
Johnny (voiced by Rob Schneider) is an albino koala bear living in the outback, teased by the other Koalas for the color of his fur. Eager to escape his miserable existence, he is convinced by a Tasmanian Devil named Hamish (voiced by Bret McKenzie) and his quiet photographer monkey friend Higgins that the Carnival is the place for him. Or more specifically…the freak show. Though hesitant at first Johnny reluctantly agrees to go, and is thrilled by the applause and attention he garners from the crowds. However the audiences’ attention quickly wanes and Johnny’s show is cancelled, leaving him saddened, until he sees the heroics of the Carnival’s Bushman. The bumbling Johnny accidentally becomes the star of the Bushman’s act through some accidental acrobatics, and he too wants to be a hero. On the way to the Carnival’s next destination, there is an accident and Johnny’s trailer gets separated from the rest of the caravan and crashes, leaving the trio stranded in the desert-like Outback. While searching for water, they come across what initially appears to be a mirage, but what turns out to be the Billabong. A lush area inhabited by a group of animals fighting a pack of dingoes and an evil vulture who are trying to seize control of the water for their boss, a mean giant crocodile named Bog (voiced by Alan Cumming). Johnny tries to assist the animals and accidentally trips and causes a spectacular display of bravery that scares away the dingoes. Hamish tells the residents of the Billabong that their hero is named The Koala Kid. Johnny, once again enjoying the attention and applause, reluctantly agrees to go along with the charade. Soon all of the Billabong residents are fawning over The Koala Kid, for he will save them from the evil Bog. However one female koala, named Miranda (voiced by Chuck‘s Yvonne Strahovski) is wary of their ‘celebrity visitor’ and fears that they are getting too distracted and won’t be ready for Bog’s next attack. Johnny starts falling for his skeptic who, unlike Johnny, has actual fighting and boomerang skills. When the dingoes return to Bog without the water, he is livid and sends his minions to bring him the albino koala responsible for defeating their plans. However, when the dingoes return, it is actually Miranda that does the saving—not the Koala Kid—and the dimwitted dingoes mistakenly grab her sister Charlotte, who just so happens to be wearing white makeup all over herself at the time. They plan a mission to rescue Charlotte, but Miranda doesn’t want Johnny to go—”since he lost her in the first place, what makes him think he can save her”. Hamish wants the to leave and meet back up with the Carnival, but Johnny says a real hero never gives up and insists he wants to go. In a fortunate turn of events, Charlotte is being held at Precipice Lake, the very same place where Hamish and Higgins need to meet back up with the traveling carnival. So they decide to all go. Getting to Precipice Lake before the dingoes can hand Charlotte off to Bog means a trip through the dangerous Bungle Bungles. A few nice action sequences later—involving a hungry bird, a rickety old rope bridge and more accidental Koala Kid heroics—and the rescue party continues on their way. Halfway back to Bog, the dingoes realize they have the wrong albino koala and form a new plan to head off the rescue party, bargaining chip Charlotte in tow. Meanwhile, back at the rescue party, Miranda is still skeptical of the Koala Kid. And soon the pair find themselves face-to-face with a couple of giant snakes. Miranda’s attempt to save Johnny goes wrong, and it ends up being Johnny who has to save Miranda, and then himself. Ever the accidental hero, the Koala Kid prevails thanks to a lucky series of events and he finally starts to become a bit endearing to Miranda. Miranda and Johnny get separated from the rest of the group and get lost in some caverns, while back at Precipice Lake an army of prairie dogs tries unsuccessfully to capture Bog themselves. Miranda and Johnny have a run-in with a giant lizard who tries to eat them, but The Koala Kid soothes the savage beast “the mouse and the lion style” and he becomes their faithful steed. Just as they are arriving at Precipice Lake Miranda apologizes to Johnny that she thought he was a phony, but now show knows he’s for real. However, before he can tell her the truth, the dingoes find them, and Miranda finds out that ‘The Koala Kid’ is just a carnival act. Hurt and betrayed, Miranda tells Johnny to just go away, that he IS a phony. Johnny runs away and Miranda is captured. Despite prodding by Hamish to go back to the Carnival, Johnny refuses to go back to being a freak show. Charlotte, who had been set free in exchange for Miranda, finds Johnny and asks him to save Miranda, but Johnny refuses, saying that he is NOT a hero, that they were just lucky mistakes. Hamish tells him “It’s not about being a hero, it’s about being yourself.” Johnny knows what he has to do and the they hatch (yet another) plan to rescue Miranda and a BIG final showdown with Bog.

Spoiler Inside

Select Show

Johnny (voiced by Rob Schneider) is an albino koala bear living in the outback, teased by the other Koalas for the color of his fur. Eager to escape his miserable existence, he is convinced by a Tasmanian Devil named Hamish (voiced by Bret McKenzie) and his quiet photographer monkey friend Higgins that the Carnival is the place for him. Or more specifically…the freak show. Though hesitant at first Johnny reluctantly agrees to go, and is thrilled by the applause and attention he garners from the crowds.

However the audiences’ attention quickly wanes and Johnny’s show is cancelled, leaving him saddened, until he sees the heroics of the Carnival’s Bushman. The bumbling Johnny accidentally becomes the star of the Bushman’s act through some accidental acrobatics, and he too wants to be a hero.

On the way to the Carnival’s next destination, there is an accident and Johnny’s trailer gets separated from the rest of the caravan and crashes, leaving the trio stranded in the desert-like Outback.

While searching for water, they come across what initially appears to be a mirage, but what turns out to be the Billabong. A lush area inhabited by a group of animals fighting a pack of dingoes and an evil vulture who are trying to seize control of the water for their boss, a mean giant crocodile named Bog (voiced by Alan Cumming).

Johnny tries to assist the animals and accidentally trips and causes a spectacular display of bravery that scares away the dingoes. Hamish tells the residents of the Billabong that their hero is named The Koala Kid. Johnny, once again enjoying the attention and applause, reluctantly agrees to go along with the charade.

Soon all of the Billabong residents are fawning over The Koala Kid, for he will save them from the evil Bog. However one female koala, named Miranda (voiced by Chuck‘s Yvonne Strahovski) is wary of their ‘celebrity visitor’ and fears that they are getting too distracted and won’t be ready for Bog’s next attack. Johnny starts falling for his skeptic who, unlike Johnny, has actual fighting and boomerang skills.

When the dingoes return to Bog without the water, he is livid and sends his minions to bring him the albino koala responsible for defeating their plans. However, when the dingoes return, it is actually Miranda that does the saving—not the Koala Kid—and the dimwitted dingoes mistakenly grab her sister Charlotte, who just so happens to be wearing white makeup all over herself at the time.

They plan a mission to rescue Charlotte, but Miranda doesn’t want Johnny to go—”since he lost her in the first place, what makes him think he can save her”. Hamish wants the to leave and meet back up with the Carnival, but Johnny says a real hero never gives up and insists he wants to go.

In a fortunate turn of events, Charlotte is being held at Precipice Lake, the very same place where Hamish and Higgins need to meet back up with the traveling carnival. So they decide to all go.

Getting to Precipice Lake before the dingoes can hand Charlotte off to Bog means a trip through the dangerous Bungle Bungles. A few nice action sequences later—involving a hungry bird, a rickety old rope bridge and more accidental Koala Kid heroics—and the rescue party continues on their way.

Halfway back to Bog, the dingoes realize they have the wrong albino koala and form a new plan to head off the rescue party, bargaining chip Charlotte in tow.

Meanwhile, back at the rescue party, Miranda is still skeptical of the Koala Kid. And soon the pair find themselves face-to-face with a couple of giant snakes. Miranda’s attempt to save Johnny goes wrong, and it ends up being Johnny who has to save Miranda, and then himself. Ever the accidental hero, the Koala Kid prevails thanks to a lucky series of events and he finally starts to become a bit endearing to Miranda.

Miranda and Johnny get separated from the rest of the group and get lost in some caverns, while back at Precipice Lake an army of prairie dogs tries unsuccessfully to capture Bog themselves.

Miranda and Johnny have a run-in with a giant lizard who tries to eat them, but The Koala Kid soothes the savage beast “the mouse and the lion style” and he becomes their faithful steed.

Just as they are arriving at Precipice Lake Miranda apologizes to Johnny that she thought he was a phony, but now show knows he’s for real. However, before he can tell her the truth, the dingoes find them, and Miranda finds out that ‘The Koala Kid’ is just a carnival act. Hurt and betrayed, Miranda tells Johnny to just go away, that he IS a phony.

Johnny runs away and Miranda is captured. Despite prodding by Hamish to go back to the Carnival, Johnny refuses to go back to being a freak show. Charlotte, who had been set free in exchange for Miranda, finds Johnny and asks him to save Miranda, but Johnny refuses, saying that he is NOT a hero, that they were just lucky mistakes.

Hamish tells him “It’s not about being a hero, it’s about being yourself.” Johnny knows what he has to do and the they hatch (yet another) plan to rescue Miranda and a BIG final showdown with Bog.

I watched the film with my 6 year-old and 3.5 year old daughters who really enjoyed the film, despite being very quiet during much of the first half. However that’s not to say they were bored as their attention never wavered from the screen. Their emotions ran the gamut from jumping in my lap during the giant snake, lizard and final showdown sequences, to uncontrollable laughter and requests for replays during an impromptu water skiing sequence with the army of prairie dogs. I believe my older daughter’s exact words were “This is SO FUNNY! I love this part!”. And of course any jokes involving inappropriate bodily noises garnered chuckles.

The picture quality looked quite good for a DVD, though there were a few instances where the picture got blurry for some reason—I’m not sure if this was supposed to be a visual effect or what. The gorgeous sweeping shots of the Australian Outback in the opening sequence and a number of action parts looked like they were filmed specifically for 3D, so it’s a shame that this only got a DVD release here in the US as I would have loved to have seen these sections in 3D. The sound quality was good and both the effects and dialog were easy to hear without having to crank up the volume.

The film is rated PG for “mild action/peril and some rude humor”. Aside from the odd fart gag, the only “rude humor” moment I recall involved a couple of the male animal leads landing in rather unfortunate ways on a tightrope and bicycle seat and their reactions to such landings. However this seemed to go right over my girls’ heads. Now if I had boys, this would probably be a giggle-fest moment.

What’s Included on the DVD:

Film: (1:25:00)

Video: 480p Widescreen 16:9
Audio: English DD 5.1
English SDH, Spanish, French subtitles

Extras:

Koala Kid Adventure Map
A short trivia game played with the DVD remote
Koala Kid “Down Under” Sing-along
The same one-minute musical sequence from the film with the addition of Karaoke-style subtitles.

Final Thoughts:

My Rating

Episodes:

Video:

Audio:

Extras:

Recommended

Overall my girls and I enjoyed this film. We knew nothing about the film going into it and while it probably won’t get as much play in the rotation as some of their favorite Disney and Barbie films, there were some stand-out parts which have already gotten some repeat viewings in our household. The film tries to convey a positive message to the viewers while still keeping things humorous, entertaining, action-packed and (at least for my girls) a little scary.

On that last note, I’m happy to say that despite being frightened by a few of the film’s big baddies, neither girl complained of nightmares or woke us up in the middle of the night trying to climb into our bed, afraid that Bog or a giant lizard or snake was coming to get them.

Koala Kid is a fun journey with big action sequences, fart jokes, physical humor and plenty of animals pulling faces. Whether you have boys or girls, there is bound to be something about the film that they will enjoy.